So the 2009 NBA Playoffs are getting closer and closer to coming to an end. However, despite being a basketball fan, I haven’t really watched much of these playoffs at all. This is mostly due to the fact that the officiating has been painfully terrible. In more than one instance, it’s been blatantly obvious that the refs are siding with one team or one player and giving them the better calls, etc. I think that the higher-ups in the NBA want certain teams to win and so the refs are trying to make that happen. At least that’s one conspiracy theory that’s been running through my head a lot lately.

Anyways, one of my favourite basketball blogs ( Basketbawful really summed up the latest Orlando / Cleveland situation nicely and it shows just how messed up the officiating really is:

More lousy officiating: Ugh and double-ugh. Dwight Howard gets a technical foul with 4:11 left in the fourth for…flexing looking really happy after getting an And-1? (If this one stands, I will demand that the NBA retroactively assess about 371 technical fouls on Alonzo Mourning.) And even though only one tech was called, Mo Williams gets two free throws? Did I miss something? (Not according to the game log I didn’t.) LeBron draws a foul by falling into Pietrus with 0.5 seconds left, “earning” two FTAs that allow him to tie the game. Then Varejao rides Howard out of bounds on Orlando’s final play and there’s no call. (Even the always-impartial AP said: “Both players tumbled out of bounds, and although there was enough contact for the officials to call two or three fouls, there was no whistle.”) Now, mind you, I would have been fine if either a) both had been no-calls (my preference) or b) both had been called. Again, at this point I’ve given up my hopes for correct officiating and only want consistency. But I can’t even get that. Unless by consistency I mean “King James always gets the benefit of the doubt”…because I get that in spades.

I really hope that the NBA and the refs sit down this summer and really work out a plan at how to better officiate games because things can’t really get any worse than they are now.